[Red Mansion] A little chef came to the Grand View Garden

Liu Mei followed Shiqing to step onto the high foundation of the Zichen Hall, followed Shiqing to salute the saint sitting on top, and when she stood up, she felt the eyes around her were burning, looking at herself.

At the moment, there are many people sitting in the main hall, including nobles and ministers of civil and military affairs.There is even a bead curtain hanging behind the saint, and behind the bead curtain there are still figures of people. Perhaps many concubines in the palace are also gathered in the back hall of the Zichen Palace at this moment, it is unknown.

Liu Mei felt this gaze and knew that many people in the hall must have distrusted her when they saw her young face and petite stature.

Sure enough, I heard a loud and steady voice asking: "Shiqing, the person behind you is the one who won the Mingyuan competition last time?"

Shiqing bowed steadily to the sage, nodding his head.

With Shiqing backing her up to testify, the others felt a little relieved.

"Hey, the famous chef invited from your country looks so young!"

On the other side of the hall, a sharp and strange voice sounded, causing Liu Mei to look sideways.

This is probably the person from Dongying Kingdom who came to challenge the imperial chef to cook puffer fish.I saw that he was about the same age as Shiqing, wearing a warrior robe and combing Yuedai's hair.The robe on his body was woven with gold and silver threads, which looked extremely precious and showed his extraordinary status.

Liu Mei thought, dressed so well, she should be the legendary Japanese envoy.

But when she continued to listen, she realized that she had guessed wrong. This person was not the envoy of Dongying, but a certain prince of the Dongying country who accompanied the envoy to Beijing to pay homage to the saint. His status was more noble than the envoy.

After listening to it again, Liu Mei began to gradually understand why Shiqing would take the initiative to challenge the court in this competition—it was not some Dongying chef who challenged the court to use the technique of cooking puffer fish to surpass the Chinese cooking skills A master of arts, he is actually the prince of Dongying.

Shiqing is similar to the other party, with a higher status. If he can take action, if he can restrain the other party, firstly, it will prevent the other party from oppressing others, and secondly, it will also save the other party from talking in the future.

And the real Dongpu envoy is sitting on the mat anxiously at this moment, not far from the head of the saint.In order to show justice, the envoy was also invited to be the judge—but as long as he thought that his upcoming task was to eat puffer fish desperately, the Japanese envoy turned pale and sweated on his forehead, as if he had poisoned his prince Technology is not necessarily fully trustworthy.

"His Royal Highness—"

The Dongying prince spoke with a heavy accent, "Xiao Wang didn't expect you to agree to fight."

Shiqing didn't answer, but turned around and bowed solemnly to the saint sitting at the head.

The sage sitting on the Dragon Throne seemed to be nearly fifty years old, with a handsome appearance. Seeing Shi Qing like this, he nodded slightly with his beard, and his expression was full of praise.But once he looked at Liu Mei, he frowned involuntarily, showing a little bit of disbelief but helplessness, and then turned to look at Shi Qing, with a little annoyance in his eyes.

I just heard the Dongying prince continue to say: "It's just that when Xiao Wang was in Dongying, he had read many Chinese classics. I remember that a sage once said: A gentleman stays away from the kitchen."

Naturally, Liu Mei has heard this saying. It was said by Mencius, "A gentleman is like a beast. When he sees its life, he can't bear to see it die. Hearing its sound, he can't bear to eat its meat. That's why a gentleman stays away from the kitchen."

"I heard that the words of this sage are regarded as classics by your country, so can Xiao Wang think that the two who are going to fight with Xiao Wang, His Royal Highness, and... and this Master Xiaoliu, are not honest and gentlemen at all. ?”

As soon as this remark came out, there was an uproar in the hall.

Prince Dongying's debate was very cunning. Either Shiqing would admit that he was not a gentleman, or he would slap Mr. Meng in the face, saying that what he said was not true.This is equivalent to, in front of foreigners, slapping the face of the Chinese sages who have a long history and a long history.

Shiqing heard the words, but smiled slightly, and said: "The prince has misunderstood the deep meaning of 'a gentleman stays away from the kitchen'."

Prince Dongying raised his eyebrows when he heard the words, and said solemnly: "I would like to hear the details!"

Shiqing did not answer directly, but turned around and bowed to the saint sitting at the head to apologize, then turned around, and took out the knife he had chosen in advance from the box held by the little yellow door behind him.

The sharp blade reflected the brilliant candlelight in the hall, like a pool of autumn water, reflecting Shiqing's eyebrows clearly.

I only heard Shiqing's cold voice, and said word by word: "Master Meng said that the gentleman stays away from the kitchen, but he is urging the politicians to practice benevolence. A gentleman is a person with a benevolent heart and a pure heart."

He said, pointing at Liu Mei, and said: "This... little brother, has a kind heart and a pure heart, even if he spends all day in the kitchen, he will not change his mind a little bit because of it..."

Liu Mei once again became the focus of everyone's attention, but this time she was thinking about her own concerns, but didn't realize it.

After all, Shiqing understands her, and knows that she will always uphold her own conscience, and it is impossible for her to change just because she is in a different environment.

Immediately afterwards, Shiqing snorted coldly and said: "As for this king, he has long been used to killing and fighting. He has blood from countless people on his hands, so he has no compassion at all. Therefore, it is completely up to this king whether he stays away from the kitchen or not. no difference..."

As soon as he said this, everyone in the Zichen Hall changed expression from top to bottom, only the sage sat on the dragon chair, and nodded secretly after hearing this.

——Shiqing is a sharp knife out of its sheath.A sage naturally does not need a knife to have the character of a gentleman.

"...So," Shiqing gently stroked the sharpened kitchen knife in his hand, "Since the prince has the guts to challenge my heavenly kingdom with cooking skills, then this king will not be polite, so please Let the horse come here."

The Dongying prince looked at the knife in Shiqing's hand, and never thought that he would say such a cold and decisive declaration of war.He was stunned for a moment, and then he came to his senses and said: "Then... Xiao Wang would rather be respectful than obedient, and thank His Royal Highness in advance for condescending to give advice."

The Dongying prince seemed a bit bully and fearful. Seeing Shi Qing's toughness, he knew that he could not gain any advantage in talking, so he stopped talking, and instead asked the two sides to start a competition to see the truth in cooking.

Then officials from the Ministry of Rites announced the rules of the competition on the spot.

So far, each side has two people participating, and now both sides are the same, a noble person chooses a culinary expert partner from the folk.

As for the dishes, this competition has already been froze by the Dongying people in advance. The main ingredient of both parties' cooking is fresh puffer fish. There is no limit to the specific dishes. Each party can present two to three dishes, but they must participate in the competition. Only two people can complete one or more tasks independently.

In addition to puffer fish, the two parties also need to choose materials from the two categories of pickled food and fried food, and make a few small dishes to accompany the meal and wine.

The evaluation was conducted by the Holy Majesty and the Japanese envoy together, and they judged together.

There is a pilgrim here, even if the envoy from Japan wants to say good things about his prince against his conscience, it is useless; It is also impossible to make many long mouths.

After listening to the rules, Liu Mei turned to look at Prince Dongying, and saw that prince bowed to the saint with a sword and golden horse, and then took the lead to retreat.

When Shiqing passed by her side, he said lightly, "Let's go!"

Liu Mei was obedient, and followed closely behind Shiqing, leaving Zichen Palace.I saw that the venue for the competition was on an open space outside the Zichen Hall.When she entered the hall just now, she hadn't seen it yet, but now, two temporary open-air kitchens have been built out of thin air outside Zichen Hall, with a complete stove and various materials neatly placed on one side.The most conspicuous ones are the two large tanks, in which all the puffer fish are alive and kicking.

Another little yellow door started to light a fire, and the fireworks were rising little by little in the stove.

The sage, civil and military officials, all waited and watched from a distance in the Zichen Hall at this moment, leaving the large area in front of the hall to Shiqing and the two groups they were about to face.

"System, Brother System..."

In front of so many people, Liu Mei was a little ashamed to communicate with His Royal Highness Shiqing, so in desperation, she could only call the system in her mind secretly.

Unexpectedly, Shiqing went straight to her side, "What's the matter?" He lowered his head slightly, fixed his eyes, and looked at her.

Liu Mei felt an involuntary heat on her face.

"Well... I want to ask, what kind of dishes should I make..." Even the words were a bit awkward.

It's just that in front of this ferocious prince, probably everyone is like this, and the eunuch who is accompanying him listens and doesn't care.

"My lord is going to cut up puffer fish—"

Liu Mei was taken aback, fish sticks?

Fish meat is fish raw, or sashimi, but it is quite similar to fresh fish sashimi in Japanese cuisine in later generations.

She couldn't help but turn her head to look at the Prince Dongying's side, and when she heard the sound of sharpening knives, she knew that Nineteen people from Dongying would also make a fish stick.

Sliced ​​sashimi, like carved radish flowers, is the shortcoming of Liumei, and the kitchen knife in Shiqing's hand reflects the afternoon sun, reflecting the sharp light of the knife.

Suddenly, Liu Mei had great confidence in the man in front of her—with Shiqing around, she probably wouldn't lose.

As soon as she relaxed, she spoke freely again, and then asked: "Then what should we do with the side dishes? Besides puffer fish, what else do we use puffer fish for?"

The eunuch's servants next to him turned pale when they heard Liu Mei call "we" so familiarly, and put wax on Liu Mei in their hearts.

Shiqing raised his sword eyebrows, and replied firmly: "You think—"

"...?" Liu Mei touched a hard nail, and looked at Shiqing with wide-eyed eyes in surprise, automatically blocking the expressions of the little servants waiting next to him lighting up the wax.

Shi Qing still frowned deeply, meeting Liu Mei's gaze.

His eyes seemed to be able to speak, Liu Mei stared at him for a moment, then lowered her head to ponder.

"His Royal Highness—"

As soon as that yin and yang voice sounded, Liu Mei knew that the prince of Dongying Kingdom had come again.This time, he was accompanied by an elderly man with gray hair. Liu Mei only glanced at the man's callused hands, and knew that it must be a good hand with kitchen knives.

The Dongying prince didn't have anything good to say when he opened his mouth, and sure enough, this time he came to make provocative words again.

"His Royal Highness, Xiao Wang originally thought that the most skilled restaurant chef in your country and the person who won the first place in the Mingyuan Grand Competition must have unique skills, but now I look at it. little man—"

When it came to the words "I see you with pity", the Dongying prince deliberately dragged out his voice, and his words were full of sarcasm.

When Shiqing heard that, the right hand holding the kitchen knife couldn't help tightening.

"Who says it's not?" Prince Dongying laughed, "I've been here in Beijing for many days, but I've heard a lot of rumors—His Royal Highness, is this little... Master Xiaoliu, did he win with his real skills?" I'm afraid only His Highness knows the Mingyuan Grand Competition in his heart!"

"The descendant of the dignified Taotie Mountain Man," the Dongying prince stretched out a finger, pointing to the leather apron Shiqing was wearing, "to please the person he likes, to praise him in this way... Xiao Wang is also in admiration. But hasn't Your Highness heard a saying that the higher the praise, the harder the fall? Today's competition, Xiao Wang is also looking forward to it, this little... master, what can he do? Amazing dishes."

Liu Mei had never heard of the word "Gao Tie Shan Ren", she was meditating, when she heard what Prince Dongying said, she was naturally extremely unconvinced, and glared at him.

However, Shiqing seemed completely unmoved, continued to look at the front coldly, and said lightly: "Anyone can move their lips, as long as they see the truth in the competition field."

Seeing that his words were unable to excite him, Prince Dongying sneered, and pointed to the older man with gray hair beside him, "Your Highness, this is the best fish cooker in our country, ghost master."

Liu Mei looked from the side, felt that this grey-haired ghost really looked like he had seen a ghost, his face was full of sorrow, his body was thin and small, if it wasn't for the Dong Ying prince speaking, Liu Mei would never have imagined that this person was actually Dong Ying The country sent out the chef who was fighting against Shiqing.

But the more they look like this, Liu Mei knows that this kind of people must not be underestimated.

Sure enough, the ghost bowed deeply to Shiqing, and said: "The villain is not talented, please give me your advice."

After finishing speaking, he respectfully took a kitchen knife from the holding plate held by the palace man next to him, and casually took a small half of a carrot from the chopping board next to him.

I saw the ghost holding a small half of the radish in his hand, and the kitchen knife in his hand was waving rapidly, with tiny crumbs flying out continuously, and the white radish in his hand was also rapidly forming——

In just a moment, the most common piece of white radish in Guijian's hand has turned into a rose flower carved from white jade.

Gui Jian handed the radish rose to Liu Mei's hand with a sad face, Liu Mei's hand trembled slightly, and a rose petal fell from the flower, it was really as thin as a cicada's wing, and it danced in the air for a while, and then it was blown by the wind. Slowly fall to the ground.

This ghost master cut out such a rose in this moment, the details are amazing.

Even if he is as calm as Shiqing, he will inevitably nod his head slightly when he sees him now.

"The saber skills and techniques are really good." Only Ting Shi said plainly, "If you can perform to the extreme today, you should be on par with this king in the end."

Prince Dongying seemed to have expected that Shiqing would say that, but he just sneered, turned to look at Liu Mei, and said, "Since that's the case, then today's competition will depend on whether the Master Xiaoliu you have won so much will be It’s a bit of a real talent.”

"Tsk tsk tsk, the only descendant of Taotie Mountain, you actually tied your reputation and fame in this life with such a little... little guy." The Dongying people's tone was extremely contemptuous, but it seemed to be regrettable, as if I feel very worthless for Shiqing's way of being trapped by love and looking for troubles.

Liu Mei blushed when she heard that he looked down on her so much, her cheeks puffed slightly, and she contrasted well with the puffer fish bulging into balls in the water tank beside her.